Video Daily Digest: First Down With The Sickness

This is a public service announcement, warning you of a terrible epidemic that is spreading through the Magic community with no relief in sight. It's an insidious virus that engenders an incredibly strong and inexplicable attachment to red, green, and blue cards. As a brand new virus, it's being dubbed…

It appears as though noted SCG Tour® player Harlan Firer is the virus's latest victim. He can't put down his Tarmogoyfs and Lightning Bolts, even as the rest of the metagame has moved on to Fatal Push and Gurmag Angler. He's drawn to them like moths to a flame.

In this latest, more aggressive variant of "Temur Cards I Own," Harlan has incorporated Mishra's Bauble as a cheap cantrip that while not playing nicely with Snapcaster Mage, does help Tarmogoyf level up to a 5/6 so it can fight the delve threats that other decks play. It's also another revolt enabler for the other addition, Narnam Renegade, which can rumble with most any creature in modern or apply some nice beatdowns for the low price of one mana.

Huntmaster of the Fells as well as Pia and Kiran Nalaar are typical in Temur decks and are ways to gain card advantage while developing the battlefield. The tokens can often be traded away to upgrade your red removal and kill larger creatures without losing significant value. That kind of scrappiness is the key early warning sign for Todd Anderson Syndrome.

You know, now that I think about it, there's a lot to like about this deck. It has a good curve, good disruption for combo decks, and is clearly tuned to match up well against the black-based midrange decks that would otherwise prey on it. Plus, Spell Snare is better than it's been in years due to the resurgence of Storm and Jeskai Control. Maybe Temur is actually pretty good…

Oh no! The virus must have infected me! Quick, leave now and save yourselves! It's too late for me now.

About Ross Merriam

Ross Merriam has been a fixture on the SCG Tour since 2012 and is one of its most decorated players with over twenty top 8s. He currently serves as the beardliest member of Team BCW and a content creator for StarCityGames.com, focusing on the Modern format as well as Magic fundamentals and theory designed to help you elevate your game.